CHAPTER 13 SECTION 4CULTURE OF THE 1930’S

• MASS ENTERTAINMENT FLOURISHED DURING THE NEW DEAL YEARS AS AMERICANS SOUGHT TO ESCAPE FROM THE WORRIES OF THE DEPRESSION

• IT WAS THE GOLDEN AGE FOR ENTERNAINMENT – THE MOVIES, MUSIC AND LITERATURE PRODUCED DURING THIS ERA HOLD A UNIQUE PLACE IN AMERICAN CULTURE

Movies & Radio

ENTERTAINMENT BECAME BIG BUSINESS DURING THE 1930’S – NBC AND CBS BROADCASTING GIANTS – MGM, WARNER BROTHERS, 20TH CENTURYFOX AND PARAMOUNT – HUGE MOVIE STUDIOS

Movies & Radio

• BY 1935 TWO IN THREE HOMES OWNED A RADIO – BY END OF 1930’S 9 OF 10 HOMES DID

• BY 1939 NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF ALL AMERICANS ATTENDED AT LEAST ONE MOVIE A WEEK

Movies & Radio

FAN MAGAZINES TRACKED STARS PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIVES

Movies & Radio• WHEN AMERICANS WENT TO THE MOVIES DURING THE DEPRESSION THEY DID SO AS A MEANS OF ESCAPISM

• THE WIZARD OF OZ WAS ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE DEPRESSION-ERA FILMS – IT PROMISED AUDIENCES THAT THEIR DREAMS REALLY COULD COME TRUE

Movies & Radio• STUDIOS RELEASED MUSICALS, ROMANTIC COMEDIES, GANGSTER FILMS AND CARTOONS

• WALT DISNEY’S SNOW WHITE – CARTOON, FRANKENSTEIN, MUSICAL TOP HAT – STARRING FRED ASTAIRE AND GINGER ROGERS ( PAGE 427), GONE WITH THE WIND – STARRING CLARK GABLE AND VIVIEN LEIGH

Movies & Radio• IN THE EARLY 1930S MANY FILMS REFLECTED THE PUBLIC’S DISTRUST OF BIG BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT

• GANSTER MOVIES, SUCH AS PUBLIC ENEMY STARRING JAMES CAGNEY WERE VERY POPULAR – SHOWED A DECLINING FAITH IN GOVERNMENT AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

Movies & Radio

WHEN THE NEW DEAL RESTORED CONFIDENCE MOVIES BEGAN PORTRAYING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AS HEROES – JAMES CAGNEY – IN G-MEN

Movies & RadioOTHER FILMS FOCUSED ON THE STRENGTH OF AVERAGE AMERICANS – FRANK CAPRA – WAS A LEADER IN THIS GENRE– HIS CHARACTERS WERE EVERYDAY PEOPLE STRUGGLING WITH THE HARDSHIPS OF THE TIME: 1. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON – STARRING JAMES STEWART – ABOUT A SENATOR WHO FIGHTS AGAINST THE GREED AND CORRUPTION HE FINDS IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL 2. MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN – STARRING GARY COOPER 3. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE – STARRING JAMES STEWART AS GEORGE BAILEY

Movies & Radio

CAPRA’S FILMS CELEBRATED AMERICAN IDEALISM AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE COMMON MAN OVER THE FORCES OF ADVERSITY

Movies & Radio• NATIONAL RADIO NETWORKS BROADCAST POPULAR SHOWS STARRING COMEDIANS SUCH AS BOB HOPE AND JACK BENNY

• AMERICANS FOLLOWED SOAP OPERAS, VARIETY SHOWS AND DRAMAS SUCH AS THE LONE RANGER AND THE SHADOW

Movies & Radio• IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING ENTERTAINMENT THE RADIO DELIVERED NEWS AND POLITICAL COMMENTARY

• ON ONE OCCASION RADIO LISTENERS HAD A HARD TIME RECOGNIZING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT – OCTOBER 30, 1938 – WAR OF THE WORLDS – DIRECTED BY ORSEN WELLES – WAS SO REALISTIC SOME PEOPLE BELIEVED THE WORLD WAS BEING ATTACKED BY MARTIANS

Movies & Radio SWING MUSIC POPULAR BY BIG BANDS – POPULAR MUSICIANS:1. DUKE ELLINGTON2. BENNY GOODMAN3. ARTIE SHAW4. GLENN MILLER5. JIMMY AND TOMMY DORSEY

Movies & Radio• THE MOST POPULAR VOCALIST OF THE ERA WAS BING CROSBY

• WOODY GUTHRIE – FOLK SINGER – WROTE SONGS ABOUT THE OKIES – ALSO WROTE “THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND”

The New Deal and the Arts

• THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROVIDED FUNDING FOR THE ARTS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY

• WPA ADMINISTRATOR HARRY HOPKINS ESTABLISHED A SPECIAL BRANCH OF THE WPA TO PROVIDE ARTISTS WITH WORK

The New Deal and the Arts

• PROGRAMS SUCH AS THE FEDERAL ART PROJECT, FEDERAL WRITERS PROJECT AND FEDERAL THEATER PROJECT OFFERED A VARIETY OF JOB OPPORTUNITIES TO ARTISTS

• IN FEDERALLY FUNDED THEATERS MUSICIANS AND ACTORS STAGED PERFORMANCES THAT WERE OFTEN FREE TO THE PUBLIC

• WPA WRITERS RECORDED THE HISTORY AND FOLKLORE OF THE NATION IN A SERIES OF NEW STATE GUIDEBOOKS

The New Deal and the Arts• ARTISTS PAINTED HUGE MURALS ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS THAT CELEBRATED THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF WORKERS WHO HELPED BUILD THE NATION – STILL CAN BE SEEN IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS TODAY

• PHOTOGRAPHERS ALSO BENEFITTED FROM THE FEDERAL ARTS PROGRAM – THE FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (FSA) – SOUGHT TO DOCUMENT THE PLIGHT OF AMERICA’S FARMERS

The New Deal and the Arts• WALKER EVANS AND DOROTHEA LANGE – CREATED THE MOST POWERFUL IMAGES OF IMPOVERISHED FARMERS AND MIGRANT WORKERS – INCLUDING LANGE’S MIGRANT MOTHER

• THE FEDERAL ART PROGRAMS CEASED TO EXIST IN THE EARLY 1940S – THEY SET A PRECEDENT FOR FURTHER FUNDING OF THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES IN THE 1960S

The Literature of the Depression

• THE DEPRESSION ERA PRODUCED MANY MEMORABLE WORKS OF LITERATURE

• MANY WRITERS WROTE ABOUT WORKING CLASS HEROES – SAW “ORDINARY AMERICANS” AS THE BEST HOPE FOR BETTER DAYS

The Literature of the Depression• THE MOST FAMOUS NOVEL OF THE 1930s WAS JOHN STEINBECK’S – THE GRAPES OF WRATH – FOLLOWS THE JOAD FAMILY FROM OKLAHOMA TO CALIFORNIA DURING THE DUST BOWL• THEY HOPED FOR A BETTER LIFE BUT INSTEAD OF THE PROMISED LAND THEY FOUND EXPLOITATION, DISEASE, HUNGER AND POLITICAL CORRUPTION

The Literature of the Depression

• AFRICAN AMERICN WRITERS WROTE ABOUT HARDSHIPS FACED BY BLACKS

• RICHARD WRIGHT – WROTE NATIVE SON – ABOUT RACIAL PREJUDICE IN A NORTHERN CITY

The Literature of the Depression

LILLIAN HELLMAN – PLAYWRIGHT – WROTE PLAYS FEATURNIG STRONG ROLES FOR WOMEN – WROTE THE CHILDREN’S HOUR , THE LITTLE FOXES, AND WATCH ON THE RHINE – NOTED FOR THEIR SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS SUBJECT MATTER

The Literature of the Depression

• CLIFFORD ODETS – WROTE WAITING FOR LEFTY AND AWAKE AND SING – ABOUT THE STRUGGLES OF THE WORKING CLASS DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION

The Literature of the Depression• MANY AMERICANS READ COMIC STRIPS AND COMIC BOOKS MOST POPULAR: 1. FLASH GORDON – SCIENCE FICTION 2. DICK TRACY – DETECTIVE STORY 3. SUPERMAN – SUPER HERO

The Literature of the DepressionTHE SUCCESS OF SUPERMAN LED TO A RADIO SHOW AND LATER A POPULAR TV SERIES AND SEVERAL FEATURE FILMS – SUPERMAN REASSURED AMERICANS THAT ORDINARY CITIZENS LIKE CLARK KENT COULD OVERCOME EVIL